Some people were getting their knickers in a not over the fact that older (96khz) gear won't be compatible. REALLY!!!!!????

Oh no! so it won't work on 96khz models!

Oh dear, does that mean I have to listen to my own private (uncompressed) library of music, and my 24 Bit downloads instead!!!?

What a crying shame....

Seriously, Non-Naim owners will attack this as a profitering exercise (forgetting that possibly the code needed to make the streamers compatible may simply not run on the older boards!)

And for people who own Naim streamers who complain (old and new alike)......SHAME ON YOU!

Leave all that compressed LO-Fi replay for where it belongs! On "gadgets" like tablets, pcs, micro systems, smartphones, and (everything-bar-the-kitchen-sink AV gear).

The more disturbing issue this raises is that the "proper" Hifi industry is being heavily diluted by this pish.

Spotify and other compressed music services are justification for people to accept lower standards, and for music to become a throw away commodity.

It has it's place, but not in real hifi.

Plus I see streaming music is to be included in the Top 40 Charts.. Is it just me or, is that akin to saying "Bobble hats are in fashion this week because more people were trying them on in Charity shops"?

I agree with you on the whole, but it has to be considered that people that use Spotify on smart devices, computers etc may actually be tempted to buy a proper piece of HiFi now that it has the software pre-loaded to access their established music 'collection' and playlists.

I know for a fact a lot of friends and family would never spend £1000+ on a HiFi system consciously, and repeatedly utter the phrase "I'm not an audiophile.. I'll never hear the difference" are amazed at how good a HiFi system sounds playing something as lowly as Spoity, let alone a good CD or hi-res track.

If the HiFi industry played things correctly it could be a good way of opening the door to new customers, giving it the much needed injection of youth and spending it needs.

Thanks for the reply (and the voice of reason he he). I had lost half a biscuit in my tea when writing that one.

Still, I fully appriciate that it's all a necessary evil, in terms of bring new people into the Hifi fold, but I think a bit of tough love needs to be applied to ensure they realise that there is a big cost for the convenience.

I guess I'm more annoyed at people who actually OWN proper hifi, seemingly thinking that this sort of stuff not being included in current hifi is a 'deal breaker'. They really should know better!

Some people were getting their knickers in a not over the fact that older (96khz) gear won't be compatible. REALLY!!!!!????

Oh no! so it won't work on 96khz models!

Oh dear, does that mean I have to listen to my own private (uncompressed) library of music, and my 24 Bit downloads instead!!!?

What a crying shame....

Seriously, Non-Naim owners will attack this as a profitering exercise (forgetting that possibly the code needed to make the streamers compatible may simply not run on the older boards!)

And for people who own Naim streamers who complain (old and new alike)......SHAME ON YOU!

Leave all that compressed LO-Fi replay for where it belongs! On "gadgets" like tablets, pcs, micro systems, smartphones, and (everything-bar-the-kitchen-sink AV gear).

The more disturbing issue this raises is that the "proper" Hifi industry is being heavily diluted by this pish.

Spotify and other compressed music services are justification for people to accept lower standards, and for music to become a throw away commodity.

It has it's place, but not in real hifi.

Plus I see streaming music is to be included in the Top 40 Charts.. Is it just me or, is that akin to saying "Bobble hats are in fashion this week because more people were trying them on in Charity shops"?

I'm glad you explained this rant with the biscuit incident!

If people didn't want it or Naim didn't think it would broaden the appeal of their gear, then I'm sure they wouldn't be jumping through the hoops – and there are hoops, hence we were asked to take the story down... – to get Spotify Connect on there. It needn't change the way you use it!

I think digging your heels in against the tide of how people are consuming music is a recipe for disaster, so it's good to see brands like Naim embracing Spotify at the same time as supporting high-res, both ends of the spectrum... To be honest, I'd settle for getting people who use Spotify to make sure they're listening in the best quality for starters :wall:

On the Spotify question, why not? I use it a lot in my decent system (Ayre, Harbeth); it sounds pretty darned good anyway, is ideal for finding new music, also for listening in background mode. If I like something enough I buy the CD, rip it, and play it through Aurdirvana on the dedicated Mac Mini. I reckon I break even on it - it saves me buying stuff on a whim then finding out I don't like it. And anyway, I'd rather listen to good music on whatever I have available than limiting myself to when I sit down in front of the hi-fi.

More importantly for the industry it's encouraging the majority of people that aren't into 'proper' hi-fi to at least consider it. I can now buy a Naim Uniti2 that does streaming, plays CDs, and has Spotify built in. No need for a separate computer - a definite win. Well it would be if it did Qobuz as well (CD quality streaming, see I'm not a heathen!).

So good luck to Naim - this will bring them far more sales than their Statement amps - now those ARE silly!

If you want to play Spotify Premium from your iThing, then plug in a £99 ATV3 to your Naim (using optical) and use AirPlay.

If you want to use your Android thing to play Spotify Premium wirelessly on your Naim then something like this will do it via Bluetooth (aptX) for £60.

There are many other simple solutions that will cost only a small fraction of a Naim upgrade (or an even smaller fraction of the cost of chopping in an older Naim model for the newer - upgradeable - version) .

Even more of a non-issue now that Naim seem to have dumped all trace of the subject down their 'memory hole'.

This sounds like a great solution from a convenience point of view. With probably a decent enough sound quality for background music.

I was actually considering doing the upgrade for my series 1 model, mainly to get round the eternal buffering problems on many vTuner stations played via my Unitiqute.

However, I'm now wondering if Upgrade + SC would actually solve that problem.

Thing is, I've never been able to find out exactly where the bottleneck lays: radio station's servers, vTuner, Unitiqute? Probably a combination of all these. It's likely not my 20MB internet connection. And I also know that I never have these buffering problems on my windows laptops, iPads, or android phones.